Our youngest daughter has been thinking about the possibility of furthering her education, maybe an advanced degree in art history and possibly going into university teaching…someday. (As of this writing, however, she is just trying to survive the first month post-partum of our newest BEAUTIFUL granddaughter!) She really does have a sustained interest in antiquities, art history in general, and has a real soul for the integrity of art.
Which leaves a little room for some trepidation as I submit this work with some help from da Vinci and Picmonkey:
Even with my exceptionally untrained eye, it’s obvious to me that this is somehow not right. But some falsities are not so overt, like a Picasso with all the body parts in the right places. Here’s one that our artist son-in-law, Michael Greenholt, did as a fun present for his mother-in-law, an old Star Trek fan. At first glance, a sweet victorian pastoral scene, I had to look closely to see what he “improved” it…
I particularly appreciate the Vulcan ears, eyebrows, and “live long and prosper” hand gesture…
These all show a fun sense of humor, of course, but would probably not be considered quite so comical were the artists still alive, or had these “additions” been done to the original canvas works. Now, granted, the beard on the Mona Lisa is a travesty, but why is it so terrible to give her a pretty flower to hold in her otherwise placid pose?
Because it doesn’t belong there, that’s why! It’s not what her creator had in mind.
Here is a quote from blogger buddy, call2witness, that I thought bears repeating—
“Unfortunately, when we decided to sin, that image of God that is in us became vandalized. The entire Bible is about God cleaning up the sinful graffiti that we placed on ourselves.”
This is exactly what happens when we try to paint over the masterpiece God has placed within us, or within someone else. It’s painfully common, although not always obvious: parents pushing their children into social activities before the kiddos can barely spell their own names; spouses layering their unjust expectations on each other and wondering why there’s no peace in the home; peer pressure (often initiated by unbridled media exposure) to be “better than you are”, when the so-called improvement has nothing to do with moral honor or spiritual integrity.
Worse yet, and even more insidious, is the scribbling on God’s reputation that misinterprets someone’s first glimpse of eternity.
“They traded the truth about God for a lie…”
Thankfully, the Creator of the original is still alive and His true design has been restored in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. His words, “take heart, because I have overcome the world”, apply to the the world’s damaging brush strokes left in my life as well!
Romans 1:25; John 16:33 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
INSPIRATION with an ATTITUDE 